


Winter at North's Cottage: A Visitor

by ghostdowry



Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, Gay Woodland Creatures, Inspired by Redwall and Brambley Hedge, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22093150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostdowry/pseuds/ghostdowry
Summary: A mouse named North finds something is weighing on his mind and keeping him awake. It turns out to be his friend Moor, who has had a nightmare and can't sleep.Complete Fluff to practice writing and make myself happy.
Relationships: Original Character/Original Character
Kudos: 1





	Winter at North's Cottage: A Visitor

It was around the time when North would usually be fast asleep, but there he was, drinking chamomile tea and eating strawberry jelly on small toast slices. It was dark, though the First Month’s nights always tended to be that way, this one seemed darker than most. He took a sip of tea. It was getting cold, but he didn’t mind. He looked at the pot, which was lidded and probably still very hot. Chamomile eased the need to stay awake. He still wasn’t tired though. He knew something was wrong and it was chewing away at his inner mind. Another sip of tea. A bite of toast. It tasted good, but his brain was so full that North couldn’t make himself focus on it.  
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.  
“Let yourself in, the door’s still open,” he called, “and I have good food and drink to spare.”  
Even if it was a spirit he didn’t mind. The mouse had lived here for his whole life and was certainly acclimated to the environment in which he lived, and all of the creatures who lived there, including the incorporeal. But when the door creaked open, it was the last thing North expected. It was his old friend Moor, who lived in the mess of brambles near the river. _That is far,_ he thought to himself, _Moor must’ve walked a long way to get here._  
And that he did. Moor was trembling with the First Month’s cold, walking through snow with only a nightdress to wear had taken a toll on him.  
“Moor,” said North, “what in the gods’s names has you up this late?”  
“I had a nightmare,” he whispered.  
“And you walked through the snow in your nightdress to get to me, all across the wilderness? Why couldn’t you have gone to the church to stay?”  
Moor’s face dulled at those words, so North quickly back pedaled. “No, no, it’s not that I don’t want you here, I was just wondering-- what made you think of me?”  
“You know. You’re warm and I’m scared and I need comfort and I can’t sleep after that unless someone’s here and you’re really my only friend at this point.”  
North felt both flattered and horribly sad. He didn’t know that Moor was so lonely, and he felt like he could’ve done better to help him with those feelings, but now was not the time to worry about social lives. He beckoned the other mouse over to the chair next to him and got up to get another cup and saucer from his cupboard.   
It was at this time when Moor began to shiver again. He had closed the door behind him and sat down, but his nightdress was soaked and he wanted to sleep. More specifically, he wanted to sleep in a nice warm bed with pillows. His own bed consisted of several leaves and flowers that often rotted away and had to be replaced within a few months. They also became frozen in the winter, so he didn’t enjoy his own sleep as much as he believed North would be able to enjoy his.  
When North returned with the tea, Moor couldn’t help but notice his fur- very nice and neat. He must’ve been grooming himself more frequently than Moor could afford to. Moor’s own grooming was limited to short bursts in between gathering food from the surroundings of his home. His eyes were very beautiful as well. They were colored like dark maple syrup and the overhead lamp’s light shone on them and made them sparkle like little stars. Moor would say he looked at his friend like he was the sun, but the sun always hurt his eyes and made him squint. He supposed he looked at North with the admiration of the sun and the same feeling of warmth, but instead of his skin, it was on his heart. He decided it was the tea making him feel warm and shook his head, water splashing from his whiskers.  
Just then North realized how cold his friend was. He sat down his mug and immediately took Moor into his bedroom. Once inside, Moor was quickly undressed by North, who then saw his messy, knotted fur and almost gasped with pity for the poor creature.  
“Oh my goodness, dear, why didn’t you tell me you needed help with your fur? I could’ve gotten to you before it became this matted...”  
Moor felt his face heat up. North was licking his paws and running them through his fur, working the knots out and brushing through it with his fingers. It seemed to pass too quickly for him to become comfortable, but nevertheless it remained the best thing he’d experienced since moving to the woods. He closed his eyes and let North continue in what felt like (and quite possibly was) the most intimate moment of his life.  
  
A few hours passed after the grooming, wherein North changed Moor into a warmer set of pajamas and they settled into North’s bed. Moor couldn’t sleep at first, but he soon found it easy to relax next to his friend and felt comfortable enough to fall into a happy dream.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :-) North and Moor may be featured in future works.


End file.
